Chain links fabricated from steel rods have been proposed heretofore and used with considerable success. However, some of these prior art chain links do have certain shortcomings, such as a tendency to become inadvertently disengaged from one another when the direction of the load on the chain is changed or when a certain amount of slack is permitted to develop in the chain. Furthermore, some of these other prior art chain links, while they were economically formed of steel rod stock, did not possess sufficient strength to prevent their deformation particularly when a side load, that is a transverse load to the direction of the chain, was applied.